YATESVILLE – Wyoming Area controlled the beginning and the conclusion of its Nov. 7 season-ending football game at rival Pittston Area.
The Patriots outplayed the Warriors for a long stretch in the middle of the game, making things interesting before falling short, 28-14.
“I think you saw two responses, a great response by Pittston after we went up by the three scores and I think you saw a strong response by our guys,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said.
Wyoming Area led, 21-0, less than a minute into the second quarter, scoring on its first three possessions and giving the impression it was ready to continue the dominance that produced wins of 40-0 in 2018 and 45-0 in 2019.
Pittston Area had other ideas. The Patriots shook off the rust from just having one week to prepare for a final game after thinking their season was over because of a COVID-19 case detected close to the team.
The Patriots got within 21-14 by halftime, fought off two Wyoming Area scoring threats in the third quarter and got as close as the Warriors 23 and 46 while seeking to tie the game.
“They hadn’t played a game in a month and for them to come out and get ready for the game and withstand that initial momentum and be able provide themselves with that shift, they did a great job,” Spencer said. “It was a very exciting game.”
At the point where it led 21-0, Wyoming Area also had advantages of 6-2 in first downs and 177-36 in total offense in the first 12:35.
Through the point when Rocco Pizano’s second interception set up Drew Mruk’s runs in the clinching touchdown drive, Pittston Area head leads of 9-5 in first downs and 220-67 in total offense for 29:59, more than half the game.
“It was great to see the kids respond to the momentum shift,” Spencer said.
Wyoming Area finished strong, with six straight runs for positive yardage in the 33-yard drive to a touchdown with 1:25 left.
Although they took different approaches to getting there, the teams wound up even in first downs and one yard apart in total offense.
Notes
Pittston Area’s David Behm had 100 receiving yards in the first half.
Mruk, just a sophomore, led Wyoming Area in tackles during the rivalry game for the second straight year. He had six tackles and an assist last season, then five tackles and six assists this season.
Pittston Area’s Rob Barbieri picked up at least 21 yards on all four of his kickoff returns.
The teams combined to go 8-for-9 on fourth-down conversions.
Wyoming Area has won six of the last seven meetings to take the biggest lead ever in the series, 31-25. The teams have played 54 straight seasons, including twice in two of the seasons.
Wyoming Area 28, Pittston Area 14
Wyoming Area`14`7`0`7`—`28
Pittston Area`0`14`0`0`—`14
First quarter
WA – Jake Williams 2 run (Jayden Rusyn kick), 8:27
WA – Drew Mruk 1 run (Rusyn kick), 5:22
Second quarter
WA – Rocco Pizano 33 pass from Williams (Sydney Kruszka kick), 11:25
PA – David Behm 6 pass from P.J. Pisano (Matt Soy kick), 7:22
PA – Behm 26 pass from Pisano (Soy kick), 0:25
Third quarter
None
Fourth quarter
WA – Mruk 6 run (Kruszka kick), 1:25
Team statistics`WA`PA
First downs`13`13
Rushes-yards`41-228`27-71
Passing yards`54`212
Total yards`282`283
Passing`3-10-1`14-34-2
Sacked-yards lost`1-11`1-10
Punts-avg.`4-32.0`3-26.0
Fumbles-lost`1-1`3-2
Penalties-yards`2-20`4-40
Third-down conversions`4-11`3-13
Fourth-down conversions`3-3`5-6
Time of possession`25:35`22:25
INDIVIDUAL OFFENSIVE STATISTICS
RUSHING — WA, Mruk 18-168, Colby Gashi 6-21, Vicienzo Giambra 8-21, Williams 9-18. PA, Bryheem Patterson 9-33, David Sudo 12-32, Alex Hoban 1-3, P.J. Pisano 5-3.
PASSING — WA, Williams 3-10-1-54. PA, Pisano 13-32-2-186, Jimmy Spindler 1-1-0-26, Patterson 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING – WA, Pizano 2-48, Adam Sigman 1-6. PA, Behm 8-145, Patterson 1-22, Rob Barbieri 1-14, Adam Shovlin 1-11, Anthony Thomas 1-8, Sudo 1-7, John Symons 1-5.
INDIVIDUAL DEFENSIVE STATISTICS
TACKLES-ASSISTS – WA, Mruk 5-6, Nasir Condry 4-2, Sigman 4-2, Jake Williams 4-0, Nicholas Elko 3-3, Shawn Kostak 3-2, JRusyn 3-2, Blaise Sokach-Minnick 3-2, Rocco Pizano 3-1, Usamah Alansari 2-4, Bryce Hinkle 2-1, John Morgan 2-0, Keegan Rusyn 1-1, Giambra 1-0, Garrett Pocceschi 1-0, Ethan Speece 1-0, Gashi 0-2. PA, Spindler 7-4, John Symons 7-1, Patterson 3-4, Brandon Farrell 3-1, Anthony Thomas 3-1, Sein McCracken 3-0, David Sudo 3-0, Joe Galonis 2-3, Alex Hoban 2-3, Barbieri 2-1, Gino Triboski 1-2, Behm 1-1, Stephen Yanchis 0-2, Drew Menendez 0-1, Teagan Reboli 0-1.
SACKS – WA, Speece 1-10. PA, None.
TACKLES FOR LOSSES – WA, Speece 1-10, Williams 1-2, Condry 1-1, Elko 1-1, Sokach-Minnich 1-1. PA, Sudo 1-2, Farrell 1-1.
FUMBLES FORCED – WA, Mruk. PA, None.
FUMBLES RECOVERED – WA, Condry, Mruk. PA, Hoban.
INTERCEPTIONS-RETURN YARDS – WA, Pizano 2-11. PA, Thomas 1-1.
BROKEN-UP PASSES – WA, Williams 4, Sigman 2, Alansari, Pizano. PA, McCracken.
PASS RUSHES – WA, Sokach-Minnick 2. PA, Hoban, Galonis.
SAFETY – None.
KICKOFF RETURNS – WA, Pizano 2-25, Sigman 1-6. PA, Barbieri 4-97, Drew DeLucca 1-14.
PUNTS – WA, JRusyn 4-32.0. PA, Behm 3-26.0.
PUNT RETURNS – WA, Pizano 1-11, 1 FC. PA, Barbieri 1-6, Patterson 1-4.
MISSED FIELD GOALS – None.
BLOCKED KICK – None.
